A fourth person dies from a Minneapolis mass shooting and the suspect is charged with murder

San Francisco Chronicle​

02-05-2025

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A fourth person has died from a mass shooting in Minneapolis earlier this week in which investigators believe a fifth person was killed hours late in retaliation, police said Friday.
The 28-year-old man had been hospitalized in grave condition since the shootings late Tuesday, and died Thursday shortly after federal authorities arrested a 34-year-old suspect, the Minneapolis Police Department said in a statement.
The murder charges allege the suspect was in a vehicle with five other people when he shot them all in the head before fleeing. One of them survived and was able to identify the suspect to police.
Police say the victims were Native American. The shootings have shaken the large Indigenous community in the Phillips neighborhood south of downtown Minneapolis.
Police say the shootings were gang-related
Newly unsealed murder charges against the Minneapolis man allege he and members of his family are associated with a gang known as the Native Mob. It operates in the city's south and other parts of Minnesota, the charges say.
The gang was the subject of a multiyear federal investigation over a decade ago that resulted in the convictions of 28 people. Its alleged leader at the time was sentenced in 2014 to 43 years in prison.
The motive is still unknown
The complaint gave no details on what might have prompted the shootings. Police Chief Brian O'Hara said during a news conference Thursday that authorities were still investigating.
'This is a bittersweet day,' O'Hara said in Friday's statement. 'While this arrest represents meaningful progress toward justice, that progress is overshadowed by the heartbreaking loss of another life. Our thoughts remain with the victims' families, their loved ones, and a community that continues to grieve.'
What do we know about the victims?
A 20-year-old woman, a 17-year-old boy and a 27-year-old man died at the scene in the first shooting, which happened on Tuesday just before midnight in a vehicle parked in a mixed residential and commercial neighborhood.
A 20-year-old woman was shot in the face and hospitalized in critical condition, the complaint said. She said the shooter was sitting in the back seat when he opened fire on all four other people in the vehicle before fleeing on foot.
A second shooting the next day
Police have released few details about that homicide.
About 13 hours later and roughly three blocks away, a 30-year-old man was killed outside an apartment building. The police chief said it was 'entirely probable' this second shooting was revenge for the first.
The suspect is now charged with murder
The U.S. Marshals Service said its local fugitive task force and an FBI SWAT team arrested the suspect on Thursday afternoon. Newly unsealed court records show he was charged Wednesday with second-degree murder and being a felon in possession of a firearm.
The suspect has at least one felony on his record, an assault conviction from 2021, which prohibits him from possessing guns or ammunition. Court records show he completed his probation in 2023. When police interviewed him in 2023 in a separate homicide investigation, the complaint said, he acknowledged that his street name was 'Baby James.'
He remained jailed Friday, and court records didn't list an attorney who could comment on his behalf. His first court appearance is scheduled for Monday.
What was the suspect's relationship to the victims?
According to the complaint, the victim who survived told police the shooter went by the street names 'Baby J,' 'Little J' and 'Little James,' and was a friend of one of the victims.
Relatives of one victim told police that the victims were all together at a family friend's residence in Minneapolis but left around 9:30 p.m. with plans to pick up 'Baby J,' who was known to be a 'close family friend' of the victims. The family member identified 'Baby J' as the defendant.
Other law enforcement sources told investigators the defendant was 'an associate' of more than one victim, the complaint said.
The survivor told police on Wednesday morning that 'Little James' was the person who shot them, that they knew him, and that he and was the only shooter, the complaint said.
A surveillance video was consistent with the survivor's account, the complaint filed in Hennepin County District Court said. It shows one person matching the suspect's description exiting the vehicle and fleeing before police arrived.
How have Minnesota's Native American communities reacted?
According to the Minnesota Star Tribune, community members gathered Thursday at a park a few blocks from the shooting scenes for a prayer and drum circle.
The state's 11 sovereign tribal nations issued a joint statement Thursday, mourning the deaths and urging anyone with information to contact Minneapolis police, Crime Stoppers or their own tribal police.
'As native peoples, we have always known grief,' the statement said. 'But we have also always experienced the strength that comes afterward. We are here because our ancestors cared for one another. That is how you are even here — because someone before you chose love, protection, and community over despair.'